December 15, 2012|By CHRISTOPHER hOFFMAN, Special to The Courant, The Hartford Courant

WETHERSFIELD – — The ancient hardwood floor at the American Legion throbs as couples three-step to the driving beat of River City Slim and the Zydeco Hogs.

At the front of the room, the singer belts out bluesy Zydeco songs in Louisiana French. A band member rhythmically thimbles a ribbed silver breastplate draped over her shoulders – a high-tech version of a washboard. Her face joyful, she sways and bops as dancers sashay past.

Welcome to the longest running Cajun and Zydeco dance in New England. The monthly event, run by Hartford Community Dance, has been bringing a little bit of Louisiana to Connecticut for nearly 20 years, HCD President Sheila Browne said.

Every third Saturday, dancers from all over Connecticut and as far away as Rhode Island and New York converge on Wethersfield to swing and stomp the evening away.

"It's the music," said Bruce Emerick when asked why he traveled from his Watertown home. "It kind of grabs you. It's really down to earth."

Cajun, Browne explained, is the music of the Cajun people, French speakers expelled from eastern Canada and banished to Louisiana in the 18th century after the British conquered Quebec. The style is slower and has more of a country feel.

African-Americans and Francophone immigrants from the Caribbean combined their musical traditions with Cajun to create Zydeco, she said. The music has a powerful blues influence and a faster beat.

The styles, both of which derive their unique sound from fiddles and Cajun accordions, have strong dance traditions. Peter Rost, aka River City Slim, whose band played a recent dance, said that unlike other kinds of music, Zydeco and Cajun immediately send people to the dance floor.

"I was a performer and I know how hard it was to get people to dance," Rost said. "These people were dancing at the very first song."

Rost fell in love with Zyedco music about 20 years ago after discovering blues-orientated artists like Clifton Chenier and Buckwheat Zydeco.

"I was just totally knocked out by it," he said. "I decided that I had to learn something about this."

Rost went on to found his band River City Slim and the Zydeco Hogs and host a long-running show on WWUH that focuses on Zydeco, Cajun and other Gulf Coast music.

Being "knocked out" or "hooked" upon first hearing Cajun and Zydeco music was a common sentiment among dancers. The music, many said, grabbed them instantly.

"I got hooked on Cajun and Zydeco the first time I heard it," said Su Peck, who gives dance lessons before each event.

David Brian Carr, a Wethersfield attorney, had a similar experience. He's been a fan of Cajun and Zydeco for about 20 years and has traveled to Lafayette, La., a center of Cajun culture.

"There's something about Cajun and Zydeco – I feel it in my bones," Carr said. "To me, it's of the earth. There are times when I'm taken away."

For Hartford Community Dance's Browne, Cajun and Zydeco are more than just music. They opened a door to a new world.

"I grew up a Southern Baptist, and I wasn't allowed to dance," said Browne, a chemistry professor at Mount Holyoke College in Holyoke, Mass. "This was the first dance I learned. The first dance I went to, I was hooked."

Ironically, the only Louisiana native who regularly attends the dance did not grow up with Zydeco and Cajun music. Each area of Louisiana has its own musical and dance tradition, Brenda Boughan explained. As a child and young woman, she danced swing, which was called "jitterbug," she said.

"I learned Cajun and Zydeco up here," said Boughan, who is now committee chair of the dance. "I went (to a Zydeco and Cajun dance) and that was it. I was hooked."

For all the music's joyful rhythms, Cajun and Zydeco lyrics are often sad, said Wendy Phillippi of Milford, whose father was French-Canadian and introduced her to the styles.

While Cajun and Zydeco have ardent fans in Connecticut, attendance at the Wethersfield dance has dwindled in recent years. Organizers are looking for new dancers, especially young people, and are eager to stoke interest in the music they love.

Cajun and Zydeco dance is easy to learn, and there are lessons before every dance, Browne said.

"It's a place you can go and everyone is happy," Browne said. "It's such a welcoming dance. It's not like being in high school. You don't have to bring a partner. It's just a special community. You can come and get rid of your frustration."

Hartford Community Dance sponsors a Cajun and Zydeco dance the third Saturday of each month. The next dance is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 15 at the American Legion Hall at 275 Main Street, Wethersfield. Admission is $13 per person. The dance is from 7 to 10 p.m. with lessons beforehand.

For more information, visit the Hartford Community Dance website's Cajun and Zydeco page at: http://www.hcdance.org/cajun.htm